Angel of Death ~
by Feather Fletchette
Summary: Set after Endless Waltz. GBoys must work with the "Angel" to stop a new war. Can they do it?
1. The Gathering of Warriors

Angel of Death

Chapter 1: The Gathering of Warriors

(Duo's POV)

"Angel within our midst," "Angel of Death Appears Again," "Angel Among Us." I read the headlines. Everywhere, people were talking about angels. I personally didn't get it. I still preferred Shinigami. I mean, what are angels compared to Shinigami, the Great Destroyer?? I paid for a newspaper and began to walk back to my apartment.

It was the year After Colony 200. Another war was starting up and I didn't have my gundam. I couldn't help. I was stuck here on L2 until the Preventors got back from the rebellion from the terra-forming project on Mars. Until then, Earth and her colonies would suffer from this new war.

I had finally reached my apartment on the outskirts of town. My door was unlocked. My years of training kicked in and I pulled out a pistol I always carry around with me. I kicked open the door and waited, gun ready.

I heard a click and winced slightly in pain dropping the gun.

"Duo… it's me," a voice said from somewhere in the shadow.

"Heero?" I asked looking around in the direction of the voice. There was no answer. Instead, a report came flying my way. I caught it with grace. 

"Get packed. We're going to Quatre's."

"Alright, but what's this?" I pondered.

"A mission overview. Sally and Wufei want us to get working to stop the war here while they work on the rebellion on Mars. Now hurry up. The shuttle is going to leave soon.

"Alright, alright… Hold on Heero. You know, I don't see you for three years, but yet you're still the same." No answer. "All done. Where do we go?" There was no answer as usual. Heero just propped himself up from the wall that he was leaning against and walked out the door. "Hey, Hee- chan! Wait up!" Suddenly, a gun was at my face.

"Don't call me that," Heero said while putting his gun back. Some people never change! We got onto Heero's motorcycle and proceeded to the spaceport. We quickly boarded the shuttle waiting for us and sped to L4 where Quatre's mansion was located.

L4 was a long way from L2, especially with commercial shuttles, so to kill time, I took out the report Heero gave me and began to read.

Blah, blah, blah. The report read. I was beginning to get bored really quickly. Then, I saw a picture of a really cute girl wearing a light silverish-blue flowing gown and a mask. The caption read, "The Angel of Death." "Hey Heero, tell me something, what's the 'Angel of Death' doing in this report?"

"…Read the report, baka…" Heero stated before resuming clicking away on his laptop again. I began to read the report. It talked about the years 2000 AD to the present and the 'Angel' that appeared on the battlefield to destroy armies and help the wounded left behind, thus earning her the nickname 'Angel of Death.' The report also said something about different Angels through the decades: Fate, Lightwing, Eternity, and Nightshade. One picture contained a mobile suit. It looked like a gundam! 

"Hey Heero, is this a gundam?" I asked pointing to the picture.

"Maybe. Probably, but we aren't sure. That picture dates from circa 2100 AD." Heero said without looking up from his laptop.

I studied the pictures. Then I looked up in surprise. In all of them, the Angel was almost identical except for the fact of a different gown and different mobile suits. The mask, the stature, and everything else was exactly identical! I kept this information to myself knowing that I wouldn't get anywhere telling the other gundam pilots. Then I dozed off.

~~

(Heero's POV)

I kept on typing while Duo slept. The Angel of Death. That name haunted me in my sleep. I kept on hearing it everywhere I went, ever since I saw her in my dreams. Who was she? What did she want? Was she the same person as the one in my dreams?

Those dreams. Every night they were the same. In every single one, she calls out for help. She is weeping. I come to her and make her feel better. She says… "Galaxy… I will never leave your side." Just when we were about to kiss, there was a flash of lightning and she is pulled away by something evil. Her last words are "Goodbye… Aishiteru!" And she disappears in a flash of silverish- blue light. Every time, I would wake up in a cold sweat. Were those dreams from a past life or were they something more?

The computer gave a chime and I looked at the files that I just hacked into. I cross- reference the database to search for a female with reddish, brown-black hair and a height of around 5 feet 6 inches. It wasn't much help. Too many people matched the description. I kept on searching and came across an interesting file. The name was Amara Battle.

That name was dangerously strange. So haunting. It meant eternal battle. I looked at her profile. A cheerful face appeared. She has been missing since AC 194. The year right before operation Meteor. Last seen on L4. I downloaded the file onto my disk for further reference. I kept on searching. The next name I came upon was Athena Light. She looked almost identical to Amara except for the angry eyes hidden behind her smile. She was also missing. I downloaded her file too.

By the time we got to L4, I had downloaded over 20 files. All these women looked exactly the same except for the facial expression, date of birth, and date missing. Strangely enough, they all disappeared at the same age and before or during a war.

"Please fasten your seatbelts as we approach L4. Thank you," a flight attendant spoke over the intercom. Duo stirred and opened one eye groggily. I closed my laptop quickly. I would solve this problem later.

~~

(Trowa's POV)

"Incoming message," the computer said. I looked up from my mask. It was from Heero. I had to get to Quatre's house quickly. Quatre would send a car to escort me soon. I quickly packed my stuff and made and excuse with the manager and I waited for the limo that would take me to Quatre's house. During the ride, I looked at the scenery. Too bad all this would be destroyed if the war came here. I felt so helpless. That was about to change. I was going to rejoin my past life as Trowa Barton, pilot of Gundam 03- Heavyarms and help save the world once again. The car finally drove up to the front door of Quatre's mansion, where he was waiting. 

Quatre hadn't changed much since the Mariemaia incident but I could tell through his friendly façade that something was definitely wrong.

"Hey Trowa! How's life in the circus?" I just smiled gently at him and followed him into the house. "You know where your room is. I'll be in my office downstairs if you need me, okay Trowa?" I nodded and headed upstairs.

~~

(Quatre's POV)

I walked to my office and closed the door. *Sigh. At least the guys were getting back together. Over the past few months, all I could think about was the war. I couldn't help just yet. The gundams were being rebuilt. That was a relief in itself. Soon we would fly out and save the world again. But as of now, all I could do is think of where the war would strike up next.

I really didn't care who would win. All I wanted is to return to my pacifism ways. 'Think, think, think. Where is the next target? Where will the next battle be? When will it be? Will the gundams be finished in time?' I was getting a terrible headache. I should drink some tea to calm my nerves. 

As I was sipping my tea, my eyes settled on a pamphlet. It was for the new college colony located around the L1 area. Hannah, one of my sisters worked there and sent me the pamphlet. Maybe I should visit her one day. One day after the war. I started flipping through the pamphlet. 

The college was called Academy of Olympus ~ For Girls ~. It had very beautiful scenery and excelled at academics and the arts. The school was founded just a few years ago. Then I saw a picture. There she was, blonde hair, blue eyes, and a smirk just like the day I first saw her: Dorothy Catalonia. 

If she went to that school… But the rebel group, the White Claw, was after her! That meant, they were going to target that colony very soon! The White Claw was ruthless and had emerged after the defeat of Mariemaia from the remains of the White Fang and Mariemaia troops who still wanted to fight. They wouldn't care if they had to kill millions of people, they would get what they want, and what the wanted was her…

~~

She stood alone in the middle of a field. Empty, sad, blue eyes stared into space. Her pale blonde hair billowed with the breeze. No longer visible was a glint of light whenever there was battle. Her love of battle was gone like a feather in the wind. She couldn't remember anything. The furthest that she could remember was one day miraculously waking up and seeing kind eyes looking at her. Ever since that day, she had been enrolled in this college. Her savior was the headmistress, but she had only seen her a couple of times. She was always out on business trips or things like that.

__

Flashback

"Welcome to the Academy of Olympus. My name is Artemis. I am the headmistress of this school. You are welcome to stay as long as you wish." 

The woman speaking didn't seem like a headmistress. She was very young and very kind. When she looked at you, there seemed to be an aura around her that drew you to her and allowed you to trust in her. She had brownish-black hair and matching eyes. 

__

End Flashback

Artemis had been her savior ever since. She took her to different colonies, bought her fancy clothes, and treated her like a sister. However, something was missing. Her memory from before. She needed to know exactly who she was. She couldn't go living her life like this. It wasn't fair. 

She took out a brochure. Artemis said that she needed to go out on a vacation and spend some time alone. The colony of L4 seemed like an inviting place. She kept on flipping through the brochure. Her eye caught on a very familiar looking face. She tried to remember who the young man with the kind blue eyes was. The caption said that he was the heir to Winner family fortune- Quatre Winner. Why did he look so familiar? She sighed. 'I guess I will have to go to Artemis and ask her if I could go to L4 when she comes back.' 

End chapter. 


	2. Angel Appears

~ Angel of Death ~ Chapter 6 ~ __

Standard Disclaimers Apply

~ Angel of Death ~ Chapter 6 ~

Original: ??/??/01

*Yea!! Finally an update! Can you blame me? I've been working on my other stories… I dunno if I should post tho…~

"Damn it! That girl knows too much! We can't just let her roam around freely with the fate of the White Claw in her hands! I don't care if she has been reported with amnesia! I want that girl dead!" a man shouted. He was a tall intimidating man with jet-black hair and piercing gray eyes. On his left ear, there was a claw earring. On his cheek was a large scar. He seemed to be an important person by the way he acted, talked, and walked.

"Calm down! If you keep on rationalizing like that, we'll be destroyed! It's true that Dorothy Catalonia is a traitor to our cause, but she can't possibly know everything. I'm more concerned about that Angel person. She seems more dangerous and a person still suffering from amnesia!" another man spoke up. 

"I don't care. I agree with Kuja. That woman could cause the end of our organization before we even get a chance to carry out our missions!" 

The talks continue while a figure slipped through the shadows, pausing every now and then to listen to snippets of the conversation of the meeting going down below. 

'Hmph! They think they can get rid of me that easily? Well they're so wrong!' The figure slipped out of the building unnoticed and made a direct b-line to the unprotected hangar nearby. It got into one of the shuttles and flew off. Once safely in space, the person put the shuttle onto autopilot to the closest resource center.

The mask came off to reveal blazing brown eyes and hair that seemed to glow red and blue because of the flickering lights in the cockpit. The eyes seemed unnatural, unreal. The flickered dangerously. Only the demonic smile showed any emotion.

As the shuttle neared the resource center, the woman calmly removed the tight leather body suit that she was wearing to reveal a light flowing pastel blue dress. With the removal of the body suit, so did the hardness of the features. She let down her hair from its confined state to let tendrils of it flow down her shoulders. She showed no stress or tenseness as most people do as the shuttle began to enter the atmosphere, only pulled out a handbag and liberally applied makeup. 

The shuttle had finally arrived at the spaceport. The pilot jumped out as soon as it stopped and greeted the official. 

"Hello Miss Artemis. I hope you had an enjoyable business trip?"

"Yes. Thank you for your concern," she replied softly and smiled. The man blushed. 

"Do you need an escort back to your resort?" he asked.

"No, that will be alright. Have a good day now!" Artemis turned and left. She then went to a black Mercedes. 

"Hello Alfred. Take me to the Winner estate please. There is some business that I wish to complete before returning to the Olympus Academy," Artemis said.

"Was 'Angel' able to complete her mission?" Alfred asked.

"Let's just say that she has to pay an extended visit Kuja Black. A final visit," Artemis said, as the kind smile turned feral and changed back again. After a while, the Mercedes finally pulled up into a grand mansion. 

~~~~

Quatre was outside to greet her. "Hello Miss Artemis," he said giving her a friendly hug. "I hope you had a safe journey?" 

"Yes. Thank you for your concern. Now what was this little matter that you rushed me here to talk about?" asked Artemis.

"Please come inside," Quatre said extending his arm. Artemis took it politely.

~~~~

"Miss Artemis, this is Trowa Barton, Duo Maxwell, and Heero Yuy, my trusted associates," said Quatre, introducing Artemis to the five. "And this is Artemis, director the Academy of Olympus."

(Artemis POV)

I shook hands politely with each of the young men. They looked so familiar. It was as if I had seen them before. Then I came up to Heero Yuy. His ruggedly handsome looks were attractive, but I wasn't one to swoon over hot men. When we shook hands, our eyes locked. For an instant, everything disappeared, just me staring into his Prussian blue eyes and him staring back. I broke off the contact and looked at Quatre. 

"Down to business Quatre. What is it that was so imperative?" I asked. 

"Her," he said, pointing at a picture on an Academy brochure. "Dorothy Catalonia. She's one of your students. I want to meet her, rather, we would like to meet her," he said. 

"Oh?" I looked at him quizzically, then to each of the others. "Alright then. I didn't see what was so important about this that you couldn't call me." I said.

"That's not all," Heero said. I looked at him. "It was known that Dorothy Catalonia was a member of the White Fang. The rebel group, White Claw, wants revenge. They are targeting your colony. I suggest an immediate evacuation."

"That's out of the question. Where is your proof that White Claw will attack us? I will not threaten the safety of my students because of some crazy rumor that is flying around!" I asked slightly annoyed. I glared at Heero. He glared back. 

"It's our job as Preventers to stop the flow of blood of innocent people."

"It's my job to see to the safety of my students and I doubt the Preventers are going to help right now. If you are to talk to Dorothy right now, you'd hurt her more than those White Claw soldiers can. Is that all?" 

"No. We figured that you wouldn't evacuate so would you at least let us set up a base in your colony? We know that you have extensive technology at your fingertips. We could utilize this to…" Quatre began.

"Out of the question. You can come and visit. However, you may not set up base and draw any attention to the Academy. Is that understood? I'm sorry I couldn't help you. Thank you again Mr. Winner for inviting me here. Now if you'd excuse me," I said turning around. 

(Heero's POV)

I watched Artemis leave. She was proud and haughty and too young to be a director of a school. She seemed different from other people, almost as if hiding something. The way she looked at me. I couldn't read past the icy cold shield that she held up in front of her eyes. 

Although she seemed kind and innocent, one look into those flaming depths of honey colored eyes, and you would know otherwise. Something about her struck me as very familiar and I couldn't get it out of my head. I wondered why she would turn down the Preventers when they wanted to help her. She was rumored to be kind-hearted. That sudden outburst of anger showed differently. What was so important on that colony that she wouldn't let us see? She was hiding something. 

Later, I turned on my laptop and reviewed the files that I had hacked into, trying to solve the Angel mystery. I opened the first file again. The face. It was almost identical to Artemis. But that was impossible. Artemis had been born in AC 181, a year after me. How could the other files match up? The birthdates were all intertwined. I was going to solve this mystery, whether Artemis wanted us there or not. "Mission accepted."

~~~~

The next day:

"Awww Heero! Do I have to wear this? I look like a girl!" Duo said.

"That's the whole point. We're getting into that Academy," I replied. I didn't like wearing girly clothes, but it was essential if I was going to get into that colony. (1) I put in two brown color contacts that altered my retina a bit. That way, the security scan would not identify us. 

(Duo's POV)

I couldn't understand why Heero was so adamant about getting into the colony. All I knew was that he made me dress up into girly clothes. Ick. I knew better than to argue with him. He made me brush out my hair and put it into a FRENCH BRAID!!! I was going to get back at him… later. He seemed overly obsessed about finding out about what Artemis had to hide. 

__

Flashback at dinner

"Quatre. Miss Artemis was acting strangely during that meeting. I am going to check in on her. Duo is coming with me," Heero said.

"WHAT??" I had screamed. "You can't make me go! I mean I don't want…" I trailed. Heero was giving me his death glare.

"I don't see how she was acting strangely," Quatre said, "After all, we all have our good days and bad days. Maybe it was just a bad day and a bad topic." Quatre sipped on some 'non-alcoholic' champagne. (2) 

"I still want to find out about her, if you don't mind," Heero said in his usual monotone voice.

"All right, if you wish. I do hope you know that that school is only for girls. I can provide records and transportation, but you have to figure out how to get in," Quatre replied calmly. 

"Mission accepted."

"Hey! Don't I get a say in this?" I asked.

"No."

__

End Flashback

Now here I was about to go into some fancy girly school. Our mission objective was to figure out what Artemis was trying to hide, talk to Dorothy, and prevent any invasion by the White Claw. Sigh. All in a days work of Shinigami! 

~~

  1. No. Heero and Duo are not cross-dressers. I had to get them into the colony for the story to go on… and well, I couldn't find a better way… Infiltration was out of the question.
  2. I know there is no such thing as non-alcoholic champagne. But if Quatre said there was in one of the episodes- well, let's leave it as there is! K?

Author's Note: I hope this chapter wasn't that 'damn' short. Sorry it took so long to write. I couldn't get all the ideas to work together or at least to connect. Hopefully, the next tyme, it'll come out sooner. Love yaz all! Tell me wat you think… if it's going int the right direction or not… Eternity. 


	3. Flashbacks

Standard Disclaimers Apply __

Standard Disclaimers Apply

~ Angel of Death ~ Chapter 8 ~

Original: 4/20/01

Please read and review! 

(Artemis POV)

I thought about what had happened in Quatre's mansion. I let my anger take control of me again. I knew coming here right after my mission was a bad idea. What did they tell me that I didn't already know? It took all of my strength to keep from throwing a fit at them. They didn't infuriate me, the White Claw did. I was going to take that trip to Kuja Black a lot sooner than I had planned. Very, very soon. 

I boarded a shuttle back to the school colony. My assistants had told me that two new students would be applying today. I would have to be there to give them a tour and all the formalities. The two new students would give me a chance to relax. 

I stared out the window. Space. It was so lonely and quiet now. The killing and bloodshed of Mariemaia and the One-Year War had ended. The gundams were gone, or so the people believed. No one had a clue to what destruction lay in store for them. The only person helping right now was 'Angel'. The Preventers could do nothing without their gundam allies. Relena was holding onto peace by a frail thread. It was the calm before the storm. I would have to be doing last minute modifications to my gundams, stored safely in the colony. 

My thoughts flew to Heero Yuy. After our encounter, I had tracked him down in my computer and found out that he was one of the gundam pilots that the colonies cherished so dearly, as was Duo, Trowa, and Quatre. Those blazing blue eyes challenged me when I stared into their depths. So mysterious. They hid what he was truly feeling. He seemed so familiar. Like I had met him once upon a dream. 

I shook the idea out of my head. Out of my 2000 years of living, I had never met someone like him before. What was I saying? This is no time to get infatuated with him!! 2000 years. Such a long time to live…

__

Flashback

I had finally found my place in life; it was as a scientist. I was working with radioactive substances. I had accidentally mixed together two highly reactive substances. There was a huge explosion. My suit that protected me from the rays was quickly destroyed. My body was exposed to the radiation. 

My laboratory was hidden, so there was no way of anyone knowing about the explosion and coming to my rescue. Time wore on. Fortunately, I was able to get out. Later scans on my body showed that I had become virtually immune to any type of disease. My body could heal rapidly and my genetic codes had been altered- making my body stronger, faster, and better then it was before. Scans later showed that I could not age. My body would always be as a 20-year-old. Sure this was all great, but I also found out that I could not reproduce any more. This was the price to pay for immortality. 

For over 2000 years, I had seen all my loved ones die. I had made new friends, just to see them wither up with age and slowly return back to the Earth. I changed aliases frequently. All of my friends came and went. I shared my secret with no one. Over time, my feelings and emotions became devoid. 

My second passion in life was to build. Over time, I had made a lot of money. I had studied in almost every possible career. From microbiology to physics; from chemistry to surgery. I used my money to build a machine. It turned out to become one of the first mobile suits. However, since I never patented it, no one knew of it. I called it Fate. 

That was my first disguise as 'Angel.' It was during a war. There had been too much violence and I wanted it all to stop. That was my first battle. In the end, no one had been left standing, except for me. I climbed out of my mobile suit and I saw all the destruction around me. I heard a moan. I walked towards the sound. It was a soldier, on the brink of death. I was mortified by the extent of his injuries and I took him back to the base where I took care of him. I put him in a cryogenic tube the first few weeks that healed his major injuries. Through all this, I wore a mask, so he could not see the true me. There was no truth in me anymore. I had cheated death. In the end, I let him go. Before he left, he called me an angel. An angel of death. I brought destruction but yet I cared for human life. That was my nickname from then on.

For the rest of my life, I fought. I found little happiness. The pain stricken faces of men just before they died continued to haunt me. I would take in thousands and thousands of wounded soldiers. Not all of them survived. It was a sad job, but someone had to do it. Many countries asked me to ally with them. I refused all of this. I didn't want power. I made many enemies in my lifetime. 

__

End Flashback

The shuttle was approaching the colony. I sighed. Little droplets of water were in front of me, floating because of the lack of gravity. 'Tears… My tears…' 

I soon arrived on the colony. By that time, I had composed myself again. I plastered a smile onto my face. It was time to get on with life and push those memories aside. Life would go on.


	4. They Meet

~ Chapter 9: Angel of Death ~

~ Chapter 9: Angel of Death ~

© Tianyi Lu. May 27, 2001

(Duo's POV)

Finally!! Freedom!! I inhaled the sweet smell of fresh grass and trees and clean air. Now that the war was over, I used every chance I got to get away from machinery unless I needed to. The shuttle ride was boring. Heero didn't offer any entertainment, as usual. He, as usual, was at his laptop doing who knows what. I was still a bit upset about the fact that I had to wear girly clothes, but that was all resolved after the really long nap I took during the ride here. 

This place was huge! The spaceport held the latest designs of shuttles and other amenities. A man quickly escorted us to a car that drove us out to the main level of the colony where the academy was located. Everything was placed like it would be on Earth. The designer of the colony must really feel nostalgia. I looked around. It seemed that for miles and miles there was a broad expanse of fields and forests. It was so quiet and serene. Every once in a while, another car would drive by or I would see a horse, but other than that, those were the only clues that there were people on this colony. I might actually enjoy this place! Of course except for the fact that I STILL have to wear skirts and dresses. But then again, it was better not to argue with Heero. 

(Heero's POV)

I watched as Duo peered out of the window amazed at the vastness of the colony. I was rather surprised myself, but I didn't let him see it. I could see that everything here was meticulously planned. My thoughts quickly wandered back to Artemis. After painstaking care and deliberation, I was able to confirm that she was a match to all the other files that I had downloaded from the government site. But why did she keep on changing aliases? And how could she be that old? It seemed almost impossible. A person could live for 2000 years. However, one of the oldest files, dating back to around 2000 AD, stated that a girl went missing around her 20th birthday. It was later confirmed that there was an explosion on an uninhabited side of a mountain whose origins were unknown. Anybody there would have been killed immediately by radiation that was blasted down. The file was corrupt and a lot of the data was missing including the name. The girl seemed to be Artemis, but they looked so different. The girl seemed so much more cheerful while Artemis was well, cold. They were as different as night and day, but there were physical similarities. It could be possible that the girl cloned herself over and over again, but why would the original go missing? So many questions were left unquestioned as we neared the main hall of the Academy. 

(Artemis POV)

The shuttle had finally arrived five minutes before the meeting. This would be a very bad impression, but it couldn't be helped. I was delayed somewhere in the middle of my flight by some White Claw recruits who tried to overtake the shuttle. I smiled ferally. They were no match for my skill, agility, and weapons. I straightened my skirt and blouse and quickly got into my Lexus SC 430 convertible (hey! I can dream can't I?) to drive straight to the main hall, which was approximately 10 minutes away. Hmmm. I guess I'll call this fashionably late. 

(Duo's POV)

My luck had persisted! Not only was the lady not here yet, but they had treated us to food! Oh the glories of food! My stomach had wrapped itself on my backbone and was crying bitterly by the time we arrived at the hall. I couldn't be any happier. And of course, there was the fact that the butler led us to the swimming pool where there was a LOT of really hot girls. **Drool. There was one that particularly caught my attention. One of the other girls called her Jenny. Dark chocolate curly locks framed her face and set with a pair of brown eyes. I'll inspect her later. My first priority was to keep Heero out of trouble since he had such a hard time dealing with a lot of people. 

(Heero's POV)

I groaned inwardly to myself. Of all things, Duo chose food. Sigh. Why couldn't he ever learn? The butler also took us on a brief tour of the main hall. Here, there were many assembly halls. There were some classrooms, but not much. Offices occupied most of it. In the back however, there was a huge swimming pool. There the butler left us and promised to get us again when Artemis had arrived. She was presumed to be running late. 

I sat on a lawn chair. The sun shined down at us from the glass top dome. The sky was artificial, but it seemed real enough. I just watched Duo stuff his face with random little sandwiches and fruit and talk to random people. I was glad for the voice implements that I had put in. This way, we wouldn't have to 'act' our parts and pretend to have girly sounding voices. The voice implements did it for us. After what seemed like an eternity, the butler finally got us. 

(Artemis' POV)

I sat on my big comfy chair and waited for the new students to arrive. Frances, the butler reported in. He said that one of them had chocolate brown hair and blue eyes. She acted cold and didn't want to talk to many people. She didn't speak unless absolutely necessary. Her companion on the other hand was the total opposite. She was talkative and sported long hair and violet eyes. Hmm. Almost coincidence? I hope not. 

The butler's report was accurate. I saw them come into my room. One was chatting incessantly to the other who didn't seem to want to contribute to the conversation. "Welcome Tyra and Kate to the Academy. Please sit down. It would honor me if we could talk for a while, and then I would show you a tour of the campus, before leading you to your dormitory." I said smiling. My sharp eyes had seen right through their disguise. Tyra looked exactly like Heero, except he had used mousse and gel to make his hair look more girlish. He had applied liberal makeup, probably to make it look more real. Kate or Duo on the other hand had tied his hair back into a French braid and put on fake eyelashes. I almost burst out laughing when I saw what they were wearing. Fake breasts, obviously. I was also able to spot a voice implement on the side of their necks. I wouldn't bring this up. My childlike demeanor came through. My students knew me to be a practical joker sometimes; especially to people that I knew was lying. Maybe it would be time for some revenge. 

"We thank you for letting us join the Academy. We know this is a great learning experience. We hope to develop through this program," said Heero. (1) He sounded so inhuman. It was alm0st as if the speech was practiced. Duo on the other hand was only able to nod, because his mouth was filled with little delicacies. 

"Why don't you talk about yourselves for a while. What are your likes and dislikes? What's your family like? What made you choose the Academy?" I asked. We continued the conversation for a while. Heero kept the conversation to a bare minimum while Duo chatted happily. Several times during the conversation, I was able to peer down the Prussian blue eyes. Almost every time, if I didn't pull away immediately, I got lost in them. So empty. So beautiful. "What are you doing!?!!??! Wake up onna!" the little voice in my head yelled at me. "Huh what?" I asked myself. "You're falling for this guy! What do you think you're doing? You KNOW that you're going to get hurt, even if you guys get married. He will die like all the others while you will always stay youthful and young and beautiful. This isn't the time to let your emotions out! I thought you were through with them!" the voice yelled at me. 

"Why don't we go for that tour?" I asked Heero and Duo, hoping the voice would stop yelling in my head. I showed them around the main hall, and the lesser halls where the classrooms were located. Then, I showed them the library, the sports arena, the fields, the stables, the cafeteria, and finally the dormitories. I told them that anything that they could possibly need; they should use the phone and call the director at the lobby of the hall. She would attend to their needs. "Come visit me at my office anytime you want. I enjoyed talking to you two. I hope that we can do it more often," I concluded the tour.

(Heero's POV)

Everything seemed well. Except in the middle of some of our chats, Artemis and I would stare at each other. I didn't think that she was being rude. Keeping eye contact was important. It was dangerous for me though. I kept on getting lost in those depths. I wanted to find out her secret. Through the whole conversation I kept on searching. Nothing came. She finally took us on a tour. I guess she felt awkward to be stared at like that. She led us around the campus. It was rather large, meaning that I didn't have to be interrupted by anyone unless I really needed to be. She told us to visit her whenever we wanted. I would be doing that very soon, although I may not be announced the next time that I see her. 

"Planning to visit her in the middle of the night already?" Duo asked. 'Damnit! How did he know me so well? He had read my mind.'

"Hn."

"Oh come on Heero. I know you like her. You were staring at her the whole conversation. Give it a rest for once buddy!" Duo said cheerfully. I guess he was right. But I still was going to make that visit. Then I left the dorm to go exploring on my own. 

I arrived at the stables. When I entered, the pungent smell of horses got to me. I haven't gone horseback riding in a long time. I walked down the aisles of paddocks. Towards the back of the stable, were particularly more wild stallions. They screamed shrilly at me. At the end of the aisle, I saw her. Artemis was busy attending a stallion of pure coal. The horse tossed his mane when he saw me, but didn't pay any heed. When Artemis finished saddling the horse, she saw me. "Hello Tyra. Do you enjoy horses as much as I do? Do you think you can handle Stormcloud for a while? I need to get some things from the room." I just nodded. As soon as Artemis turned the corner, Stormcloud turned savage on me. He was possibly the most savage and untamed out of all the horses. It was a surprise to me how Artemis was able to keep him under control. He seemed so tame with her around. Now it took all my strength to keep him from rearing and trying to kick me. Finally Artemis returned with a towel and a currycomb. She glanced at me trying to keep Stormcloud down and smiled. Then an ear-piercing whistle sounded through the stable. I looked at the horses then realized it was Artemis who made the sound. Stormcloud stopped his rearing and went straight for her and a canter. She jumped onto his back. "Do you want to ride with us?" she called out. I said okay. "Go up two aisles and get the horse called Maelstrom. He isn't as wild as Stormcloud, but he is a challenge once in a while. I think you'd like him. I'll wait outside." Then she left. I went up two aisles and found the dapple-gray horse called Maelstrom. He was huge but still graceful. He playfully nipped at my clothes as I let him out. I saddled him quickly and led him out. I finally got on him. The seemed as if he wanted to rear and began to walk at a painful gait. I heard a laugh. Artemis had seen us. I obviously made a very funny scene. Hn. I wasn't particularly fond of being laughed at, but I guess I could deal. 

I hit Maelstrom on his hindquarters. Suddenly, he was a mass ball of muscle and galloped away. I could hardly keep him in line. I heard galloping behind me and chanced to look behind me. There was Stormcloud and Artemis racing after me smiling. Soon she had caught up with us and looked at me. Her smiling eyes said it all… 'Do you want to race?' I nodded an affirmative and we took off. Both of the horses ran side-by-side, neither taking the advantage. For every stride that Stormcloud took, Maelstrom took the same. Soon, we finally came to a clearing where we stopped. Out of breath, Artemis got off of Stormcloud and landed in the grass. She laughed. I looked at her rolling in the grass like a high school teenager laughing. Her smile was infectious and I smiled, just a bit. 

"Wow. I haven't done that in a while. No one to race with. I don't think I can walk for a week now," Artemis said laughing. She then plopped herself down on the grass again and looked into the sky. "Isn't this place beautiful? The sky is so blue and the grass is so thick and green. This is what I call paradise." She sighed and looked up into the sky. Then she closed her eyes. She could be what some people call a vision of perfection, just lying there with her eyes half-closed. Her chestnut brown hair spread behind her like a halo. It seemed to glow with red and yellow as the sun hit it. I took this opportunity to get off the horse. It was happy to get me off his back and trotted off in search of Stormcloud who had trotted off a while ago. I plopped myself on the grass. "Have you ridden for a long time?" she asked me. 

"I guess. My parents encouraged me riding and other sports. They prepared me for almost everything," I replied. 

"What else do you do? Besides riding? You didn't talk much during our chat in the hall. Kate did most of the talking," she said. 

"Almost everything," I replied shortly. 

"Do you fence? Any falconry? How about swimming or soccer?" she questioned me. We idly talked. It seemed for once, I could actually hold a conversation. She was so easy to talk to. Even those who didn't want to talk like me almost had to talk. It came almost as a second nature. "Do you have anything planned for tonight? I haven't gone swimming in a long time. I know of a pool that is unoccupied for tonight. If you don't mind I would like to talk to you more. But for now, I have to go. I have a class to attend," She whistled sharply twice. Then the two horses came galloping back. Before I could say anything more she had rode away. I watched her until Maelstrom snorted at me and threatened to leave me behind if I didn't get on soon. 

(1) I'm using Heero because Artemis knows its them, so to keep it less confusing, used Heero, and will also refer to 'Kate' as Duo. Kapeesh?


	5. The Duel

~ Chapter 10: Angel of Death ~

~ Chapter 10: Angel of Death ~

(Artemis POV)

What could I say about Heero? He seemed cold. The conversation in the field proved differently. He had plenty to say. It was almost as if everyone else talked too much and he never had a chance to speak. I found out a lot about him, but with all good things, it must end. I had a class on fencing to get to. Then I would have to go to a meeting. I hoped that he would come to the pool tonight. 

'Get a grip! You can't be in love with him. You've only known him for two days. This is only an infatuation,' I reprimanded myself sharply. 'But he is sooo…' My thoughts trailed off as my class looked at me knowingly when they saw the expression on my face. Dorothy was there. "Is everything alright Miss Artemis?" she asked concerned. 

"No, everything is fine. Dorothy, if you don't mind, could you lead this class today? I'll watch. I think the students need a new technique of fighting, not just mine," I told her. I scanned around my class. Hmm. Duo was here. "If you don't mind, I'll take care of Kate." 

"Of course Miss Artemis," Dorothy said in her usual polite voice. It was such a pity that she suffered from amnesia. I had known her from before the war. All the life energy seemed to have drained out of her after that blast on Libra. She seemed lifeless. But she seemed happy here. That's all that mattered right now. 

"Hello Kate," I said. "Have you fenced before? Do you mind if I start with you?" 

"Sure why not?" Duo picked up a sword and without warning slashed it through the air. On impulse I brought my sword up to defend myself. Just in time. Metal clanged on metal. Neither of us had the advantage. We were both equally skilled at fencing. He was good. We parried back and forth. He must spend a lot of time with Quatre or Milliardo Peacecraft to be this good. I finally found his weakness and thrust the blade. It quivered almost touching his neck. It was just enough to keep from damaging him. A round of applause sounded. My students had gone from doing their practices to watching Duo and me. I blushed. Then, a girl named Jenny walked up to Duo and began to chat with him. I looked at the expression on his face. I giggled to myself. 'Someone's got a crush...' I sang to myself. 

Now, what am I going to do about Heero? I'm sure he is going to be caught one way or another, whether it's in the swimming pool or somewhere else. He can't avoid all the activities that I set out for him. How can I reveal him without angering him or to prove to him that I am the Angel of Death? I didn't want my secrets exposed. If I revealed him tonight, would he be mad at me? What would the other students say about having a boy in their school? I'm sure they wouldn't mind. He was rather cute for a guy. The question is what would their parents say? I pondered over the question for a while before I heard the air begin to whistle with the force and speed of a sword going through the air. I picked up my sword and blocked the blow by placing the sword behind me then swung around. I glared at the offender. It was only Heero. 

"Would you like to fence? Dorothy said that you would be here." I stared at him surprised.

"Umm… Okay." Without warning, I swung the sword and begun a fancy move. The steps were intricate and it seemed that I was dancing. The dangerous swipes of the sword showed that this wasn't a game. I used all the information that I had gathered on the martial arts and spun through the air. I landed behind Heero and swiped at his back, just enough to rip the cloth of the fencing suit not enough to hurt him.

That defiant move seemed to have surprised him. He stared shocked for a moment. Then he thrust the sword directly at me. I threw the sword into the air and back flipped and retrieved the flying sword. He then met me by charging. We parried for a while. The duel ended with both of us holding swords to each other's necks. I glared at him. He glared back. Then the bell tolled. "Excuse me please. I need to get to a meeting," I said, "You fight very well. I guess I'll see you around here more often too. See you tonight." Then I walked away, for a moment happy to get away from those blazing eyes. They seemed to rip down my shield of ice that I held up to keep people away. They seared into my soul and discovered all my secrets. He knew exactly who I was or had a clue. Is that why he came undercover? 

(Heero's POV) 

The duel was well… something. She proved a worthy opponent. Her moves were beyond the regular fencing moves. She combined the grace and agility of the martial arts with the techniques of the fencing sword. If I hadn't fought with Wufei a while back, I might have lost instead of it being a draw. 

There was no question about it now. She was the Angel. I had watched tapes and documentaries over the past years on the Angel. I was fond of watching her fight especially during duels. She fought exactly like Artemis. Or Artemis fought exactly like the Angel. They were the same. Now still was the question on how she survived 2000 years. It was impossible that she had children or was cloned. That left many spaces unanswered. After Artemis walked away, I thought about tonight. Then a thought came to my head. How was I going to appear in a swimsuit in front of Artemis? The Lycra was bound to show something that it wasn't supposed to. The fake breasts weren't any help without anything to support them. I pondered about it for a while. The best course of action was still to go. Maybe she wouldn't notice…

(Duo's POV)

"Hey Quatre! You wouldn't believe who I saw today! Dorothy Catalonia! She was in my fencing class. She didn't recognize me. I guess the disguise actually works," I said cheerfully to Quatre. I watched as Quatre's face turned from regular to surprise to wonder to joy to worry. 

"Where is she right now? I need to talk to her. Rashid! Make an appointment with Miss Artemis right now! This is important!" Quatre yelled over the intercom. "Thank you Duo! I'll be there in a couple days!" Then he left me. I stared dumbfoundedly at the screen for a while before plopping down on the bed. I stared at the ceiling for a while. The first day here had been uneventful. I had almost no classes, just a few sports that I had to attend. I checked out the campus. On several occasions, I was able to spot Jenny with her friends. I just observed from afar. I also saw Heero in a field with Artemis earlier in the day. 

They were racing on horses. Everything was a blur. Sweat shone on the horses' backs and there was foam at their mouths. I smiled. 'Heero. You know you like her. You can't keep hiding those emotions of yours, especially after the war. You have opened up. You can't say that you haven't.' 

Dinner would be soon. After dinner I would have time to lazily sit on a sofa and watch television. A knock resounded at my door. "Who is it?" 

"It's me Artemis." I walked up and opened the door. Artemis had changed from the afternoon's casual clothes into a formal evening gown. Her hair was tied up with little jewels that twinkled in the light. The dress was a dark midnight blue that also had jewels on it. "I'm going out for a meeting. D… uh Kate could you give this to Tyra? It's a note saying that I will pick her up after dinner for the guards downstairs." 

"Sure. Why not? Have fun at your meeting," I said. I smiled proving to her that I would. After she left, I looked at the note. Damn! It was in an envelope. I wouldn't be able to read it without Heero knowing. I threw it on his bed and went into the bathroom to shower and get rid of these huge eyelashes. 


	6. Her Story (and lots of mush)

~ Chapter 11: Angel of Death ~

~ Chapter 11: Angel of Death ~

May 28, 2001

Arthur's Warning: This contains highly mushy content. Awww… So… If you hate that stuff--- I advise you not to read… 

(Artemis POV)

The meeting had really boring. I listened to delegates drone on and on and on. Because I headed my colony, I was also a delegate. After the droning and more droning. I was about to leave when all these men came up to me and asked me if I wanted to dance. I obliged one or two of them but then I said I really had to go and made a hasty exit. The clock read 8. Sigh. It was only a two-hour meeting. Why did it seem so long? 

"Wait! Miss Artemis!" a voice rang out behind me. I turned around to spot Quatre. What was he doing here? He wasn't a delegate! Or maybe he was. I saw the emblem on his left chest. 

"Yes Mr. Winner?" I asked politely.

"I was wondering how the new recruits are doing."

"I believe that they are fine. Now if you'll excuse me please."

"Certainly. I wanted to ask a favor of you though." 

"Go ahead." Quatre looked sheepish for a while.

"Well. I was wondering if I could spend a day or two at the Academy to see how it was. I mean I would like to see how the technology from my company is benefiting and…" 

"Of course. I'll make plans with you later. I'm very sorry. I really have to go." I said. Then I went to my car before he could say anything else. I was happy that the delegation wasn't too far from the campus. 

I arrived at Heero's dorm in no time. He was waiting for me outside. "Sorry I'm late… Aren't you going to change into your bathing suit? It's a warm night and the pool is heated. In fact, it's secluded in my conservatory (1) He looked uncomfortable for a while.

"I thought that I could change at the pool."

"Okay." Well. One way or another, I was going to reveal him as Heero, not as Tyra. When we arrived, he was hesitant to change. After some coaxing I was able to get him in the bathroom so that he could change. I didn't wait for him. Maybe it would be easier if I went in first and didn't notice him. The water cascaded down from the faucets. It was more like a huge hot tub then a pool. The water was filtered and there was no chlorine. I despised chlorine. I jumped into the pool. It was warm and comforting. 

He finally came out. I pretended not to notice him or to see him very well because of the shadows. At night, I removed the 'artificial' sky and allowed space to be easily seen. It was a beautiful starry night. I just stared at the sky for a while then closed my eyes. 

I woke up to be held in someone's arms. At first I thought it was a dream, but in reality Heero was holding me. "You almost drowned. You fell asleep," Heero explained looking somewhat sheepish. After trying to save me, the top part of his swimsuit had become crooked and he obviously couldn't hide what he was lacking. I giggled slightly and rolled out of his arms.

"Heero Yuy," I said, "How long did you think you could keep this a secret?" For every syllable, I walked closer to him. As if he was intimidated because I knew his secret, He began to back up until he hit the side of the pool. "I don't bite Heero. I've known about you since this morning. And about this…" My hand went from the water and straight for his neck. However, he saw it coming and grabbed my wrist. I glared at him before using my feet to hit the side of the wall and kick out. He let go immediately. "Doors lock!" I commanded. The security system closed the door and locked it, letting no one in or out without the correct password. All my servants knew the password, but Heero did not. It would take a lot more than him to hack into it. Instead of getting out of the pool, he swam directly at me. He threw the top off casting it aside. He came charging at me with the anger of a bull. I lightly swam away. Soon he came chasing after me. This was now a battle for my life. I knew that Heero would probably kill me if he caught me. For a while we swam around the pool. Then I got out and hid behind some of the trees that were growing around. We played 'hide and seek' for a while. It ended when Heero sneaked up behind me and charged at me throwing both of us into the pool again. I tried to swim away but he caught my ankle before I could and then pinned me against the side of the pool wall. I whimpered using my innocent, please don't hurt me act. The dangerous glint in his eyes showed me that it wouldn't work. Not on a trained gundam pilot with no emotions. 

(Heero's POV)

I just stared at her downcast eyes. She was avoiding eye contact with me. The thought of her finding out angered me at first and I swam after her when she first told me. But then when I was trying to catch her, I figured that she would have probably figured out because she was the Angel. I decided to scare her a little more by continuing to run after her. I still had to make sure that she didn't tell anyone. 

When I first pinned her down she whimpered. I knew it was an act for me to let go of her. I wouldn't let her. Now she looked so innocent. My emotions said to let go of her. My training told me to destroy her. "Look up." I said. 

Slowly her eyes flitted up to match my gaze. She looked frightened of me. Could she really be afraid of me? We were equals in almost everything. It never occurred to me that she was weaker than I was. She was a girl though. No matter how much engineering she had done on herself, she would always be weaker physically to me. I softened my gaze and looked at her…

(Artemis and Heero POV) (2)

I looked at him. He did seem a bit nicer now. His gaze had softened. "I'll let you go if you tell me one thing and promise me that you won't tell anyone about this," he said. I nodded. The pressure that he was applying to my wrists hurt. I knew that I would have bruises on them tomorrow. "Tell me Artemis. Are you the Angel of Death?" 

~~

I watched at surprised features. "How did you know?" she asked straining to make my hands let go. 

"Simple… Angel… you fight just like her and your absence from the human world is only filled by the presence of Artemis. Tell me one thing…" I let go of her wrists. She made no attempt to run away. "Tell me. If Angel was alive for over 2000 years. Tell me how she survived." I could see that it was a delicate subject for her. Tears welled in her eyes. For an instant, I thought about taking that back. She didn't have to tell. She then finally began to speak. 

"Around 2000 years ago, my occupation in life was as a scientist. I had a private laboratory in the mountains of Earth. There I worked with radioactive substances. I was twenty-years old then and that is the age of my body now. One day, there was a blast. I had accidentally mixed two highly reactive substances together. The result was disastrous. It destroyed my whole lab. I was subject to its radiation. Almost nothing remained except for the information that was kept in an indestructible box made of gundamium. All my experiments were all in there. No one knew I had a laboratory in the mountains, so no one knew about the explosion. After a few days of being trapped under the rubble, I found that I could move it a bit. After a while, I was able to squeeze my way out along with the box. A few years passed. My body was almost completely healed."

"I decided to work again, just this time without the radioactive substances. I conducted scans on myself to see the extent of the blast. It showed that I was immune to almost all diseases, could not age, but could not reproduce. My genetic codes had been altered. The aging gene was mutated along with many other genes. I had become faster, stronger, and smarter. This is the reason I could live for so long. I lived for many, many years. I always changed aliases, so the government could not keep up with me. I hacked into their files and added new files on my new aliases."

"I also enjoyed building. After twenty years, I built my first mobile suit. I called it Fate. It was also the time of a catastrophic war. I hated the bloodshed. I fought in the war. The fact that Fate was made of gundanium made it virtually indestructible. After a battle, almost no one was left standing on the battleground. I walked through the midst of the dead bodies and heard a groan. I will never forget that day. The horror stricken faces of fallen men just before they met their doom. The groan came from a soldier. He was mortally wounded. I guess from the sympathy out of my heart, I decided to help him. There was the chance that he would heal. I took him back to my base where I put him in a cryogenic tube. There he healed. When I applied medicines or balms, I always wore a mask. The same design that you see today. When the man was about to leave he addressed me as an angel. No. The Angel of Death. That is my nickname from now on." She stopped talking. Tears poured down her cheeks. Unconsciously, I raised my hand and traced her cheek and wiped away the tears. 

"Alright. You don't need to speak anymore. Can you tell me one more thing? Tell me what your original name was?" She just looked at me blankly.

"I don't know. I don't remember. It's been so long ago," she whispered. Silent tears coursed down her face. 

"Are you still radioactive angel?" I asked smiling. She looked up. I saw a small smile. 

"No."

"Then. I'm allowed to do this right?" I said lifting her cheek up and pressing my lips to hers gently. Lightly. Then I pulled away unable to believe what I had just done. She seemed happy enough though. She made a sound like a cat and put her head on my shoulder again. I kissed her forehead and carried her out of the water. 

I toweled her off and lay down on a lawn chair with her in my lap. She was sleeping now. I probably wouldn't be able to hack into the security system anyway. I let her sleep while I thought about her story. So sad. My poor little angel. 'When was she my poor little angel?' That was my last thought before sleep overtook me. 

  1. Yes I have a conservatory in my house… So :P…. 
  2. I know this is a lil' hard to do, and it can get confusing after a while, but you'll figure it out… It would be annoying to keep switching POVs anyway. 


	7. Duo's Day-- (A filler chapter)

~ Chapter 12: Angel of Death ~

~ Chapter 12: Angel of Death ~ 

May 28, 2001- September 29, 2001

((No mushy stuff!! You can open your eyes now!))

(Artemis POV)

I didn't want to open my eyes. It was so warm and comfortable. The conservatory's glass windows had made a tropical aura around the place. School would be starting very soon. After much debate with myself, I opened my eyes to the bright sunlight and propped myself up. I felt someone stir behind me: Heero. 

At first I didn't believe what happened last night, (1) but yet here he was behind me on the lawn chair sleeping contently. I decided not to wake him up. Time for a morning dip in the pool. 

I tested the water. Hopefully, it would not be frigidly cold like it was most mornings. I thought about what I would say about Heero and Duo to the other students? Quatre… That's it! I would pretend that Quatre needed Kate and Tyra back and sent their brothers to see the school. Hopefully the kids will believe me. 

Suddenly I felt something clutch my waist and pull me underwater. I guessed it would be Heero. Halfway in the water, I lashed out at him with my legs, making him lose his grip on me and swam back to surface for air. As soon as I got to the surface, Heero grabbed my ankle and pulled me underwater again. 

I counter attacked. I swung around, throwing many strands of hair in his direction to muddle his sight. Then I attacked his stomach and began to tickle him. I pulled away and went to the surface again. This time he followed. We continued our water fight until a servant came in and reminded me that I had to go to class. 

"Resume acting as Tyra for two more days. I'll take care of it all," I said broadly winking at him before leaving the room. 

(Duo's POV)

These pigtails were so… annoying! One braid was enough, but doing all these little styles with the braids were beyond me. They were so difficult. How do these girls get up in the morning to do this? I was just glad that my first class didn't start until around nine in the morning. 

The door quietly clicked closed. "So, Heero, you finally decided to return. Tell me, did you enjoy last night?" I asked him mockingly. He just glared at me and went into the bathroom to change. The videophone rang I went to pick it up, hoping it wasn't one of my classmates. I wasn't dressed yet and it was too early for this. 

Quatre's face popped up onto the screen. "Duo! Any news on Dorothy?" It was WAY too early to talk to Quatre and his love and how well she was doing. 

"I told you Q-man, she's fine. I haven't seen her since yesterday. Now maybe if I'm allowed to go eat breakfast, I can see how she is and actually report something new to you."

"Oh. Where's Heero?" Quatre asked. Heero emerged out of the bathroom, trying to put his hair into pigtails also. Quatre smirked. Maybe we should get Heero to do this more often. "Heero. What have you found out about Artemis?" 

"That she's the Angel," he answered flatly.

"Did you figure this out before or after all your fun last night with her?" I smirked. Heero shot me the death glare that held a promise that he would hurt me a LOT later. "Never mind! Bye Q-man! Gonna be late for breakfast!" I ran out of the door. Phew. That was close. Another second in that room and I wouldn't have been able to get out. I knew nothing happened between Heero and Artemis. He was too stiff, too dedicated to the mission to ruin it because of a girl. I just enjoyed teasing him. Was it me or was there a pained expression on his face when I mentioned her name? It probably had been a trick of the light. I checked my schedule. I had plenty of time today so I could check out the campus by myself. Maybe I could find Jenny and hang out with her.

(Heero's POV)

I watched Duo retreat out of the door. I waited until he was far from hearing range and then resumed talking with Quatre.

"You and the Angel? Two perfect soldiers together? What has the world come to?" Quatre smiled at me.

"Nothing happened," I told him.

"How exactly did you figure out that she was who she was? You didn't point a gun at her and threaten her did you? No. That wouldn't have worked. Did she figure out who you and Duo were?" Quatre asked suddenly concerned. 

"Hai."

"Then I guess I should be expecting a call from her very soon. Bye Heero!" The screen blacked out. I could see my reflection on the screen. I wonder what Quatre meant by getting a phone call soon. I stared at my reflection a little more. I think I overdid it. I took out the flowery little accessories in my hair and just left it as two pigtails. 

(Duo's POV) ((again))

I walked down the quiet, seemingly endless halls. Either I had gotten myself hopelessly lost, or everyone was in class. I didn't remember this hallway from my tour earlier or from any of my travelings around campus the day before. I heard people giggling from around the corner. On instinct, I hid behind the corner, masking my presence with complete quiet. 

It was Jenny and her group of friends. I decided a couple more minutes in the shadows wouldn't hurt anyone. I watched them. Jenny was walking in front, and was being rather quiet, as if deep in thought. Her friends walked behind her in a group and chatted happily. "Oh come on Jenny! It's been years after the war! How do you know that he's even alive? Besides you don't even know him. You just fell in love with him when he had his picture posted on the newspaper." 

"Oh. I don't know. Some sixth sense that he's still alive." I knew I didn't like Jenny, but that didn't stop my heart from dropping a little bit when I heard the news. I listened some more. Maybe I could find this mysterious lover boy of hers. I could beat something into him, or out of him for that matter. Or I could be 'nice' and bring him back to Jenny. I pondered about it for a while. 

"For all you know, he could be some wanted criminal now, roaming the streets." Now that would be tricky. Sneaking a criminal around. It couldn't be that hard could it? I mean I did it all the time. I decided it was time to show myself. I walked out of the shadows. 

"Hi! Morning!" I said cheerfully.

"Oh! Hi Kate! I didn't see you there! How was your rest? Do you wanna spend breakfast with us? We don't have class until nine and that's calculus with Mrs. Bershire." Jenny replied face lighting up. Then frowning slightly. "Calculus. Bleh."

"My thoughts exactly. Now let's get some food! I'm starving!" I complained. This comment elicited a chuckle from Jenny. 

Throughout, that day, I managed to keep up appearances. I collected information of the campus, as the mission required me to do, although some of the information might not be pertinent. Jenny and I had a lot of classes together, which would give me more time to get to know her. She showed me around for a while, until I knew the buildings of the campus well enough to be able to go there blindfolded. My next class was fencing again. Seeing Dorothy again and making sure she was safe, would give me enough information to contact Quatre later. I didn't understand Quatre. After she basically ripped a hole in his side, he still forgave her, and yet, he was still in love with her. That was just unusually strange, at least for normal standards. 

I got to class just in time. I purposely stayed after all the other students filed out to change into my suit. When I got to the floor, Dorothy handed me a note. "Artemis wants to see you," she said without emotion. Then she turned her attention back onto the students without another word. I stared at the note for a while before I decided it would probably be a good idea to actually meet Artemis and fulfill her request to see me rather than dumbly standing there staring at a piece of paper. 

~~

When I got to Artemis's office, Heero was already outside waiting for me. "You're late," he said. 

"Aww. Come on Tyra. Cut me some slack! Not everyone is as punctual as you are. Or are you just overexcited to see Artemis again, Heero?" I whispered the last part to him. I watched Heero's hand clench up into a fist but then relaxed as if he decided it wouldn't be a good idea to punch me now. We walked into the office. 

Artemis was talking to another butler, the one that drove her to Quatre's mansion before. He nodded a couple times before he left the room through a side door. Artemis looked down at her work for a couple minutes before acknowledging us. "Oh hello. Why don't you come here and sit down please… Duo Maxwell and Heero Yuy."

My mouth felt like it dropped a couple feet to the ground. Heero didn't say a word. After a while, I composed myself. "Well so what? What are you going to do about it huh? Huh? Huh?!" I challenged her. 

"Absolutely nothing." My mouth dropped a little more this time. Heero's face remained blank.

"Hey! You knew about this all along didn't you Heero! How come you didn't tell me?!? I thought I was your partner!" I whined a bit. "And you made me dress up in all these stupid clothes and put my hair up in all these dumb fashions. All this for nothing?! You could have at least HINTED to me about this. What is our great escape plan now? She probably can say something and we'll be stuck here forever! And she'll lock us up, and we'll never see the sun's rays, or feel the wind, or or…"

"Shut up baka," Heero said, effectively shutting me up with a glare. Artemis laughed. 

"Actually Duo, I talked with Quatre and we have this whole thing planned out. You can stay here. But only on one condition. You will remain students, but male students and you are NOT to reveal who I am. Do you understand?" She smiled prettily, but I knew that there was a sharp edge to her smile and nodded. "You are to pack up your bags and leave this campus right now with the excuse that Quatre needs you back, but is sending Tyra's and Kate's brothers- Heero Yuy and Duo Maxwell to the institute. I have checked with the school board and they have agreed to let Heero Yuy and Duo Maxwell stay for a time, as long as their time here is productive and they do not cause any trouble with the girls." Artemis emphasized the words causing trouble among girls and glared directly at me. I put on the "I'm innocent so don't glare at me like that" look and nodded. "Okay then. You're dismissed." 

Heero and I turned around for the door. "Oh. And Duo, my advice to you is to be yourself and don't think about competition for awhile. At least where Jenny is concerned," she added as an afterthought. She then resumed working as though nothing important had happened. 

(1) No you hentai!! Nothing like that!! What happened in the story is exactly how I wrote it… IF I write a lemon scene—that is what will happen! IF I don't write a lemon scene--- NOTHING happened! :)


	8. Transition to Heero and Duo

~ Angel of Death ~ Chapter 13 ~ 

September 30th, 2001

__

Standard Disclaimers apply. 

Author's Note: Trowa's and Quatre's POV is coming up soon. You may be wondering at this point what role he serves in this story… He serves a very, very belated role. I think he's coming up in the next chapter—so Trowa fans be patient!! I'm also thinking of throwing a lemon somewhere in this story… But not in Chapter 11— it's too soon in the story for anyone to be screwing anyone—unless they know each other really well. Comments, ideas, or flames— E-mail me at Tianyilu@aol.com! I adore email… but put "Angel of Death" as the subject header—or else I won't read it.

(Duo's POV)

Twenty-four hours after Artemis's command, "Kate and Tyra" had boarded a shuttle back to L4 and their "brothers Heero and Duo" would come in their place.

We arrived on schedule at Quatre's house. Almost immediately upon arrival, Quatre exchanged two suitcases full of guy clothes with our four cases of girl clothing. He ushered us into a bathroom where we changed, and then, left for the spaceport again. The life and sacrifices of a gundam pilot. 

Upon our arrival at the Academy, Artemis greeted us and quickly led us to a waiting car. The only difference this time was that there were a few curious girls waiting on the runway to see us. They watched shyly from the background. When I saw a few looking at me, I gave them a few broad winks and blew a few kisses. This was immediately met by swooning, squeals, or waving. Heero didn't pay any attention and kept on walking. So uptight. 

Once we arrived at the campus, Artemis dropped us off in front of our dorm room, which was surprisingly near to her own private estate. Since we had our first day off to look around the campus, I decided to find some people that "Kate" knew and spend some time with them, namely Jenny. Once we got to our dorm, Heero did his unpacking in record time and sauntered off somewhere. 

I took my time. Quatre went shopping for us and I needed to know what he got us. Most of the clothes were simple and casual. On the bottom of one of the suitcases, Quatre had packed all black clothes for "Shinigami" as the note read. On the pocket of another suitcase, there were random tracking devices and weapons that had been packed in an undetectable box. Then I decided that I would take a quick shower and change into some other clothes before going out into public.

(Heero's POV)

I left Duo in the dorm, knowing he would take his time to unpack. Artemis had conveniently located our dorm right next to her estate. I smiled inwardly to myself. Bad move Angel. I had easy access to her house now and I could probably access her database to find where her Gundams were. When I got outside of the building, I heard a familiar nicker. A gray horse, illuminated by the sun came trotting up to me. It was Maelstrom. On his halter there was a note, and a fencing sword was attached. The note simply read… 

__

Let's finish our fencing match. Artemis

I threw myself onto Maelstrom's back and without any commands, began to gallop at full pace toward some unknown destination. My vision blurred and the wind whipped sharply against my face and clothes. In the end I had to shield my face by ducking my head to avoid by hit by the dirt being kicked up. When I felt like I couldn't hold on anymore, Maelstrom came to a violent stop almost making me tumble over. 

A sword came whizzing at me and stopped right in front of my neck. "Guard," Artemis said and pulled the sword away. I grabbed my sword and got off the horse. No words were said and we took up our fighting stance. Time passed slowly and neither of us moved from our spots. Then suddenly, we both charged. I charged with my sword straight in front of me, while Artemis charged with the sword behind her back, bringing it forward at the last minute to defend herself. When I was about to strike, she did something I didn't expect. She somersaulted over me and landed behind me. She kicked at my legs and caused me to fall. Before I could get up, she was kneeling on me, sword raised and poised to strike and kill. 

I looked at her. This was not the person I fenced with before as Tyra. Did she actually show her true power, or was this a totally different person? Her eyes were blazing with bloodlust and her nostrils flared a bit. She was tense and I couldn't move at all. 

Instead of getting up and letting me go, she continued to stare at me that way. I got unnerved after a while. Her eyes bored into mine angrily, almost as if not seeing anything. Then she calmed down visibly. Her eyes stopped glowing with bloodlust, and her grip on me wasn't as tight. "You loose Heero," was all she said before she got up. She placed her sword back in its sheath and looked at me expectantly. 

I got up slowly, not knowing what to expect from her. What was she trying to prove? I pondered what she was going to do to me.

"Oh nothing. Relax Heero. I just wanted to get back at you for overpowering me at the pool before." She smiled, as if nothing had happened. "Oh. Yes I can read minds," she said before I could ask her that. I decided not to think about it anymore.

"I called you here today not only to fight with you. But you already knew that didn't you? I called you here for several reasons. One of which is to clear up the fact that you will not be trying to sneak into my house at night to hack into my computer and find where my Gundams are. For the sake of future argument, I'll tell you that they are not on this colony at all. They are on a nearby asteroid that only a few others and I have access to. Second of all, I wanted to tell you that I will go out on a short vacation for a while for business purposes only, several times in fact. 

"What type of business trip?"

"Is that any of your business? A trip is a trip. Why does it concern you anyway?"

"Hn."

"Just because I am not here, does NOT mean that I don't know what you will be doing. Alfred, my butler will be here to help you two along and he will file reports to me every once in a while. He knows about you two being gundam pilots and will understand if Quatre calls you away. He and ONLY he will set up the arrangements for you two to go wherever you want. If he disagrees with Quatre's request, you two are not going anywhere. The spaceport is off limits. Understand? Oh. And no funny business Heero. " I didn't say anything.

"If you don't understand, when I come back, maybe it will take the sharp point of a sword to convince you. And next time, I may not be so nice."

(Duo's POV)

****

I walked out of the shower as soon as Heero walked into our dorm. He had a mud streak on his face and his clothes were a bit torn up. 

"Hiya Hee-chan! What happened to you?"

"Hn."

"Ohh!" I said pretending to understand. "That!"

"What are you babbling about?"

"Oh nothing!" I grinned mischievously and began walking out the door. "Well, see ya Hee-chan! If Q-man calls, tell him that Dorothy is fine and if he has a mission in store, you can brief me later? Your clothes are in those drawers, your laptop on your nightstand, your bed is in the room on the right, and the weapons that Quatre sent us are in that safe. I don't need to tell you the combo do I? Oh. Take a shower will ya? I need to make a good impression." 

"Jenny is in the library."

"How did you?"

"Hn.""

I walked out the door hearing Heero flop onto the bed. Since when did Heero flop onto beds? I didn't think about it anymore. I sauntered into the library where many girls immediately began to giggle. 

"Young man. What are you doing here?" asked the librarian. She was a thin, dried up woman, with puckered up lips like she had just eaten a lemon and small beady squinty eyes. 

"Chill lady. I'm Maxwell. Duo Maxwell- the new BOY student here at the Academy."

"I need some ID," she replied nonplussed.

"Okay." Wow. That is one picky woman. I wondered what would happen if Wufei was here. Not only would he have cried out because of the injustice of dressing like a girl, having a school led by a woman which teaches only girls, up until now, but having that librarian squawk at him like a parrot. I flashed my ID badge and returned it to my wallet. I walked through the library looking for Jenny. When I didn't see her, I went up to the third floor alcoves that were filled with plush couches and sofas for studying and reading. From here, I could also clearly hear everything that was being said downstairs. I wondered if Artemis had purposely included this little thing into the planning of this library as well.

Most of the rumors were about Heero and me, just as I thought. Now would be a good time to find out what the girls thought about me. 

"Did you see the guys that replaced Tyra and Kate? They are such hotties!"

"Yeah. Especially the guy with the braid. He is so kawaii and flirty and seems outgoing."

"Isn't his name Duo?

"Yea. I personally like the other one. He's so mysterious and quiet."

"And so cute!"

"Yeah!"

"They look like Tyra and Kate a lot."

"I don't think Tyra and Kate ever existed." Uh oh. Busted. "I mean they look so alike it's uncanny."

"Uncanny?"

"Um yeah- vocab word."

"Sure whatever. Anyways, you're probably right. I did think that Tyra and Kate were a little weird. I mean they were nice and all- but something wasn't right."

"Do you know why Artemis let them come here?"

"Is it because of Winner and his corp?"

"No! Artemis has more than enough money. I don't think she needs his funding. I don't think there has been a single record of funding. Maybe charity donations, but never funding. I think the reason that Artemis let them in is because one of them is her lover. They do, after all have an apartment/dorm in the house right next to her. That place is only reserved for guests!"

"Oh! Which one do you think is hers?"

"I don't know- too early to tell."

"Are you three crazy? Artemis would never do such a dishonorable thing!"

"And since when have you become such a professional on Miss. Artemis?"

"Ummm. Well, it might ruin her name."

"True. Hey! I saw on the news once on L2 about a Gundam Pilot getting caught in space. He looked just like Duo."

"How can you tell? The picture was taken too far away to accurately tell."

"What kind of guy goes around strutting with a three foot long braid?"

"Oh."

"So what if they both are Gundam Pilots? That still doesn't explain why Artemis let them in! Wait… What if she's…"

"A gundam pilot too!" 

God. These people got worse and worse every single time they tried coming out with a new excuse for something. Suddenly, I heard a noise behind me and I twirled, fingering the hem of my shirt, where a dagger was hiding and could be thrown just in case.

"Eavesdropping isn't a good idea," said the girl emerging. It was Jenny! 

"I wasn't eavesdropping," I said smiling and winking. 

"Yes you were. Why else would you be leaning over the balcony like you were about to fall out? And besides, I've been up here a lot of times to know that you can hear almost everything from up here."

"I swear I wasn't eavesdropping! It's not my fault that sound carries over here! "I may run and hide, but I will never tell a lie!"" I quoted myself causing Jenny to giggle.

"You know. You remind me of my boyfriend." 

"You have a boyfriend? I never would have guessed," I said teasingly.

"Well, sort of. I haven't seen him in a few years- since the beginning of the war. He looked exactly like you. Almost. He didn't have long hair and he was a lot more serious."

"And how do you know that I'm not serious?"

"Because you're always grinning. You're too happy to be serious."

"Alright. You win. Tell me more about your boyfriend," I said plopping onto one of the sofas. 

"What is there to tell?"

"Your embarrassed aren't you?"

"No!"

"Then tell!"

"Fine! Well, he was the most wonderful person in the world! He was soo0o sweet and kind and loving. He used to do the most romantic things, like just sitting outside and looking at the stars or missing a really important game to spend time with me when I was sick."

"Oh." How was I ever supposed to compare with this mystery guy? "What was his name?"

"Shin Castello. He was adopted by the Castello's- my next door neighbors. Shin was his first name, or so he said. They lived on L4" A sudden pain hit my head and I groaned slightly.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'll be fine. I think I have a headache from the musty air here."

"Are you sure?"

"Yup! I'll be fine. I'll just take a stroll outside and see what else this colony has. I'll be alright in a minute or two."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No thanks," I said, even though I really wanted her too. I needed to sort out my head by myself. That name. Shin. It was so familiar. Sure, it corresponded with "Shinigami", but it was as if I knew Shin a long time ago, even too far back for me to remember. I forced my brain to remember events when I was no older than five as I walked down the path, but I couldn't seem to remember anything. All I knew was that Shin rang a bell and he looked like me minus the braid. Suddenly, an idea hit me. Was it possible? Could it be that I had a brother, who was adopted at the orphanage before I could remember? My head hurt, so I decided that I would leave more of this to ponder about later. First on the agenda was to get some eats. 

(Artemis' POV)

I felt really bad beating Heero up like that. But there was no other way of getting a point through his stubborn mind. I didn't mean to beat him up that badly. But I saw red and I struck. Usually, he would have been ready for me. But today, he was slow. Did he honestly think that just because we spent a night together meant that I was actually going to be easier to beat towards him?

The truth was, my business trips were directly related to the comings and goings of the Angel. There was too much unsolved clues and bits about the White Claw, not to mention, I would need to find out their next attack date so that I could be ready to defend if necessary. There was also the problem of Dorothy. Why the hell would they want her? She didn't offer them anything. She was completely lost in that amnesia-state of hers. She wouldn't remember anything soon either. The medicine that I had made her take when she was healing slowed that process down. There was no choice- it was either a longer lapse in memory or death for her.

I paced the length of my room, before going next to my closet and opening a panel. I punched in my password, and instantly, the set of regular clothes changed to clothes for the Angel. I threw a few of them into a duffel bag to change into later. I punched the same code into the panel on my vanity table and an array of interesting cosmetic accessories came into view. I rummaged through the jewelry box, mentally noting to get Alfred to organize it later. I picked up a small clasp and placed it on my ear. It instantly used some laser to secure itself onto my ear and to my skull, establishing a connection for communication. Random screens popped up in my brain, directly feeding information of the room to my brain and my sense of sound multiplied by five. I chose two "pearl" earrings. They looked like pearls, but when thrown, would cause devastating explosions and bide me some time for escape if need be. Then I put in one contact into my left eye, allowing the capabilities of zooming in and out to where I wanted to see. Ah. The wonders of technology and money. I smiled to myself. As a final touch, I added a spiral clasp to my arm, which shot out hooks, so that I could maneuver myself to get onto the roofs of buildings. I looked at myself in the mirror and smiled and picked up the duffel bag and walked out. I left a note with Alfred explaining my sudden absence and told him to run things for me, where I immediately went to the hangar to my shuttle. 

"What are you doing here? If you're leaving for a business trip, shouldn't you be using the public spaceport, to make a big fuss about things?" said a voice behind me. I whipped around, angry with myself for not having noticed him earlier.

"Heero. What are you doing here? And when has my business been a deal to you?" I replied icily.

"I came here, because I expected you to dash off to one of your business trips. But I can see this isn't just an ordinary business trip is it 'Angel'?"

"What are you getting at Yuy?"

"I want to know where you're going and why."

"That is confidential information, strictly business. Why do you care anyways?"

"Hn."

"Hn yourself. Now leave and go back to the main campus before I report you for trespassing on my property," I said glaring. He glared back, neither one of us willing to back down to the other's deathglare. I was losing my patience. I swirled around and jumped into a shuttle and started the engines. I began to open the spacedoors, and noticed that Heero had left to escape being pulled into the vacuum. I turned on the boosters and left, slightly peeved and annoyed. 

(Heero's POV- Last one this chapter I promise!)

I watched her leave from the windows of the spaceport. When she asked me why I cared… I almost said that I didn't want to her to get hurt, but then again, who was I kidding? I was the "perfect soldier" and I wasn't supposed to show any emotions. And then again, why should I care or not whether or not she got hurt? It's not like she meant anything to me. 

This would be the perfect opportunity to explore, in depth the colony. Even though there might not be gundams stored on this colony, I knew that she still had to have some sort of defense, just in case, and she had to have some connection with her other bases, or else how could she spend so much time here? 

But there was that feeling again, gnawing at me. I finally understood what it was. Even though I didn't care for her, I was worried about her. She was after all, fighting for the same cause, even though on different teams. I scowled at myself and continued walking back to the apartment.

When I got there, I made up my mind. I called Quatre. Instead of the Arabian boy, Trowa picked up. "Yes Heero?"

"Good. Trowa, it's you. I'm going to send you out on a mission. Are you able to accept?"

"Of course."

"Good. Artemis or the Angel has just left this colony. Because of restrictions placed on me, I cannot leave this colony." Trowa raised an eyebrow. "She has huge defenses on this place that lets no one in or out. Her shuttles will not leave unless she gives them the command- by voice." Trowa nodded when I answered his unasked question. "I need you to follow her. I believe that she is headed toward the Claw base. I need to make sure that she doesn't get hurt. She is a necessary component of future missions, especially her gundams. Tell Quatre to inform me on the status of the gundams. And report back to me immediately once you have found her. You also need to protect her and follow her and keep yourself away from suspicion." Trowa nodded.

"Mission accepted. I will follow her ion path until I am able to intercept her and carry out the mission orders." I closed the connection. 

I looked at the blank screen, unconsciously praying that Artemis would be okay. Sending Trowa after Artemis didn't ease any of my fears that she would be in trouble. 

End Chapter!


	9. Unearthing Memories

~ Angel of Death~ Chapter 9~

(Angel POV)

            The ship beeped quietly, slowing keeping tack of the distance between my location and my destination: a supposed White Claw base. My sources had indicated it to be so because of the large amount of metals shipped to the colony. It was supposedly for some big construction project that they were working- that information was enough to satisfy the delegates. However, this much metal was more than sufficient to build ten projects of the same level. Either mobile suits were being produced or a large battleship- either one was dangerous and I had plans to destroy whatever it was.

            I checked the time. "Around time to get going." I added the final adjustments to my disguise and put on a spacesuit and waited for the shuttle that I would board to arrive. I put on my mask a comfort and just in case- even though I doubt they'd connect me to Artemis. "Shuttle approaching" the ship bleeped at me. I pulled out a backpack of the essentials, put on my helmet and exited the shuttle. The shuttle could be called by a remote and the hyperjammers would keep it from being detected. I waited patiently for the slow moving cargo resource shuttle to come nearby. A bit off time- but one couldn't be too picky. I shot out hooks that immediately latched onto the shuttle's bottom and pulled myself in. I had enough oxygen for a short trip. Hopefully, the shuttle wouldn't be late- was my last thought as I went into suspended animation.

(Trowa's POV)

            As soon as Heero ended his transmission, I had left after Artemis. As always, I had prepared ahead of time. I left with a quick note for Quatre and boarded a specialized ship. I began to search for an ion trail from the school colony. After a while, I picked one up. It was extremely weak- I was even lucky I was able to detect it.

            I followed it until I reached an abandoned ship. Where was Artemis? I looked on the screen for the nearest colony- V002·C2K in the L4 region. It was a relatively new colony- more like a fortress than an actual residential colony. I got out of my shuttle and went to hers to see what clues she had left. Everything was left as if no one had ever been in the shuttle- completely empty of anything. There were no clues to where she went. My best bet was still that colony nearby. It would be relatively impossible to get in unnoticed- but it could be done.

            I reboarded my shuttle and turned on the cloak to max power. It should last me long enough to get in. I flew as fast as I could to the colony and ignored their commands to stop and identify myself when they finally saw me. Instead, I set the shuttle to maximum speed and began firing shots while dodging. Just as it was about the crash into the colony, I got out. It was a waste of equipment- but there was no other way given the short time I had.

            Using the crash as a distraction, I propelled myself to the undamaged side, and took out a simple screwdriver. I opened a panel and pulled out the wires. Now, the doors were all unlocked as were the vents- that would be useful later.

            I got inside a door unnoticed and proceeded to blend in with the bustling people all trying to fix the "technical difficulty". I finally got into the center of the colony. Not much was there- everything was very plain. There were a few factories and the command center. There was no residential area- just barracks.

            It was evident now why Angel came here. She suspected foul play and came to investigate- or to destroy. Hoping it wasn't the latter, I propelled myself to the command center.

(Heero's POV)

            After Trowa's transmission, I couldn't do anything but pace around the floor. There was no way to describe how very pissed at Angel I was. If she ever got back in one piece, I would rip her apart. I don't know why I was so mad at her- it was an understanding that she would do this. Was it because she lied to me about the business trip? Or was it because I was stuck in this goddamned piece of metal of a colony while I should be out? Or was I really mad at myself for being stuck here helpless when it should be me saving the world? A little voice in the back of my head insisted I was mad because she was endangering herself and I couldn't save her. But then again, why would or should I worry about her? She was the immortal Angel- a legend passed down the generations. She had proven that she didn't need help. She was professionally trained and she must have brought a gundam.

            I stopped pacing to save the carpet. Gundam. Even though there was no gundam here, she must have some sort of base or else how could she spend so much time here? She would need at least some form of resource or connection to her base. At least with that, I was able to do something. Now where was Duo when you needed him?

            I wanted to find her base and soon. No better time than with her gone. I dialed Duo up on his com link and he and I began to search for some kind of… something. I had no clue what I was looking for- a map, a special computer…

            "Have you found anything yet? Maybe Artemis is right… Maybe there is NOTHING here! Why are we wasting time?" Duo whined after a day of fruitless looking.

            "I know it's here."  
            "Fine- you continue looking. You probably don't have a clue what you're looking for. I'm gonna take a few. Grab something to eat. I need food unlike someone…" Duo said and closed the link.

            Duo- damn him. My brain was extremely frustrated. I began to mutter a string of curses in random languages. It's amazing what you can learn being a soldier all your life.

            I slipped into Artemis's office for what seemed like the eightieth time that day. Other than her house, which Duo had gone through very thoroughly several times, this was the most likely place. I was even beginning to doubt my belief. Duo might be right and there would be no base. But I still believed there was something I overlooked. 

            I browsed through the books on the shelves looking or one that would stand out. Finally! There was a novel, slightly more "out" than the others. I pushed it in and pulled it out, half-expecting some secret doorway to open. Nothing happened. I opened the book to the bookmark. It was incredibly old and used. As old as Angel?

            It was some old romance story. I hmphed in distaste. Trust a woman to remain sentimental no matter how old she is. I flipped through a few pages completely bored with the book, but unwilling to let the only clue I had go. A few words caught my eye.

_            "Pull the daisy, get the girl." What the hell did that mean? The most amazingly stupid things ended up in romance novels. I read on a little bit. Evidentially the young man pulled the daisy on a statue and the panel under the desk opened up._

            "Pull the daisy." I muttered to myself. "Pull the daisy… the daisy… The Daisy?!" I put the book back and walked over to Artemis's desk. Everything was neatly placed. On the side was a statuette of a rearing horse. At its feet was the inscription "Key." Originally, I believed that it was the horse's name. I inspected the horse more carefully and discovered that one of the horse's forefeet was capable of moving. I pushed it down. Nothing happened. Then there was a very quiet whooshing sound, almost inaudible. A panel had opened up under the desk and it led to a flight of stairs. Anxious at my success and impatient to see where it led, I walked quickly down it, exercising less caution than I normally would have. I followed the dim blue light at the end of the dark hallway. I turned the corner and opened the door. "Oh Kami."

(Angel POV)

            Getting into the command center was a piece of cake. I passed my card through the security device. The card contained encrypted codes that let me into any door I wanted. It pays to be old. There was very little other security. Sadly, the whole base ran based on a computer programs. Sadly for them of course. I ran down endless winding paths. Trust these people to not have any order to their architecture. In my day… I quickly dropped the thought. That made me sound old.

            Soon, I found the main computer room. Again using the car, I instantly had access to whatever files I needed. I downloaded most of everything onto my disk before I began to hear noises. Unwilling to leave the disk with incomplete information, I crept up behind the door and waited- gun unlocked and ready.

(Trowa's POV)

            The command center was not heavily guarded, except for a few wandering guards, which I managed to avoid or knock out before they noticed me. No problem. I was able to make my way around the building. As I continued walking further into the building, the security grew much tighter. Nothing I couldn't handle. It just needed very precise, calculated movements. If I was a few milliseconds slow, there would be a problem. No matter what route I went, I discovered there was no way past the guards. They were hiding something. I retraced my steps and found an air vent. I crept into this and crawled along the cold metal tunnel, slowly navigating my way towards the direction of the heavily guarded door.

            I got past the guards and through the slits of the cover, was able to make out what was going on... a mobile suit factory. Angel's doubts were put in the right place. 

            From here, I could also see the tell-tale sign of White Claw. A tooth on a necklace or earring adorned every damn soldier there.

            I studied the mobile suit. It had a Leo prototype. They had cannons and machine guns. Nothing too special. Evidently, these were only the pawns. As I looked towards the back of the room, the model changed. The new suits were much like the Serpents. I moved along the vent some more. The cold air blew harshly against my face and dried out my mouth. I looked down the covering. "What the?"

            Down on the floor were five suits. Their prototype… seemed to be the Gundams. I studied this new suit. Each was different with a different specialty, but there was no denying their origin- Wing Zero.

            How could they have gotten the plans? Probably from a long time ago when the Gundams were still being made. So what was their goal? What did they want? How long have these Gundams been here? A robotic feminine voice broke my thoughts.

            "Intruder has been detected in Room 1812B."

            "Show us the camera." A clear picture of the Angel was brought on screen surrounded by five or so guards. Damn. How could she let herself get caught?

            I watched the screen. With a flash and three distinctive bangs, three men fell down at her feet- dead. She pulled something out of her shirt and swept her arm. Two men died- embedded by two daggers. She picked them up, cleaned them off and went to the computer. She pulled out a disk and typed a few things in. Then she looked at the camera and waved at it before leaving. Time for me to get going as well. As I exited through the tunnel, I could hear the robotic voice say, "Systems failing. Files deleting… 10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…"

(Heero's POV)

            "Oh kami." What the hell was this thing? The dim blue light was actually cast because the whole room was made of water, filling it completely. However, the water stayed confined to that room only and remained suspended. I touched the water briefly- it felt like water- wet and cold. Various types of tropical fish swam inside and the floor was littered with coral- an indescribably beautiful sight that defied all laws.

            In the middle of the room I could make out a shape. It was a large and foreboding shape that blended casually with the cerulean water- barely visible. Then, what appeared to be a head raised and one golden eye opened. The thing eyed me warily, its eyes glowing. I felt my body being pulled into the water to face this monster. I struggled against my own body, forcing it to obey, but to no avail. I took a deep breath to meet the watery monster.

            As soon as I was submerged in the water, the scenery changed. The water seemed to blend together and the eye disappeared. I was teleported to… Relena's palace… the garden maze. I narrowed my eyes, scanning for danger as soon as I heard a twig snap.

            Suddenly, Relena was in front of me. Just as she was before… on that day. I shook my head. It couldn't be.

            I felt myself pull out a rose of the deepest shade of scarlet from my pocket and offered it to her. She accepted it, raising an elegantly arched brow. I felt myself drop to one knee… "Relena… marry me," I said, pulling out a ring.

            "No."

            "What?" It was this memory? Why did I have to live through this again? Wasn't once enough? The words of rejection echoed over again in my head.

            "Why?" She glared at me with her wild expression.

            "Do you know how LONG I've waited for you? For you to come back to me? How long I've suffered never knowing if you loved me or not? How many nights worrying about you?" Tears streaked down her face.

            "But…"

            "No, you don't. I'm sick and tired of waiting patiently for you Heero. I've grown up. I'm not that girl that runs around after you anymore. I'm a woman- with her own ideas. After a while, I get the clue."

            "Relena…"  
            "Let me finish! While you were gone, I thought all about you… My whole life was devoted to you and you never cared. Well, that's over now… I'm already with someone else. So you can forget your fairy tale ending."

            "Hn." She spun around and was walking briskly away. She then stopped. "To think… I was such an idiot to loved you…" After a long pause she walked back to me. Her eyes were blocked by her bangs. "Thank you for saving the Earth and the Cinq Kingdom… Gundam Pilot." She left. I felt myself being torn away from the scene. Why that memory? How many times would I have to hear her words of hate before they stopped plaguing me?

           I landed on the hard dirt floor, running to the other side, pressing the button in my hands as I ran. I turned and watched the blazing inferno of a base, and felt the familiar twinge of pride of a mission done right. Suddenly, the Leo nearby the fence collapsed and went directly to the building. Painful realization dawned on me. The little girl and her dog! I smashed my fist into the ground, leaving a dent. How many times? How many times did I have to watch that little girl and her dog die? Why were there so many innocent casualties? It was my fault… All my fault… The scene shifted again. I looked at myself. It was the younger version of myself. I didn't remember this. When did this happen? My clothes seemed elegant, fancy, expensive. Was this me? As a little boy? I heard a shriek and the door slammed open. A woman with blue eyes and blond hair ran into the room, scooping me up quickly into her arms. Quickly following her were five men.

            "Come back here slut." Slut? I looked at the woman hugging me. Her clothes were ripped and torn, hair messed and face mussed. "Come here or we'll kill that brat of yours." That woman shivered and held me tighter. I was suddenly wrenched from her arms as she began to scream for me…

            "My son! No! Let go! Give me my son back!" I began to cry, bawling loudly. I watched the men rip off the remaining scraps of her dress, and each in turn had their way with her. In the end she lay broken and dying on the floor. The men picked me up and carried me out of the room. They set fire to it. "Goodbye Lady Shimara," they said viciously and laughed.

            "KASAN!" I screamed. I opened my eyes and found myself facing the yellow eye again.

            "Such sorrow for a young man. But yet, strong of the will." A dim flow appeared from the floor illuminating the watery realm. The yellow eye belonged to something that looked like a dragon. "This is my domain. You have passed the test."

            Test? The memories were a test? "I am the guardian of the memories… of the past… with the power to make someone relive a memory."

            "What is this place?"

            "The memory room."

            "Why…?"

            "Is it here? Who knows? One day it was just made."

            "Hn."

            "You're looking for the control room aren't you?" I nodded. It eyed me again. "Artemis might not like it very much, but I'll let you through."

            "Why?"

            "So many questions. Because you passed my test.  Also, I fear she and Trowa will get themselves into trouble. You need to save her- or many things will be no more… like this room."

            "How…?"

            "HURRY! Time is of the essence young warrior." I nodded acknowledgement and walked or 'swam' towards the looming doors that were behind the dragon.

            "Thank you." I said, "For the memory." I walked through the door which opened and blinded me with a white light.

            When my eyes adjusted, I found myself face to face with- well a Gundam to be precise. Its eyes glowed green when I walked in and the hatch opened.

            'Hurry pilot. She is in danger.'

            What? I could have sworn I heard a voice… in my head. I climbed into the Gundam. The familiar control panel allowed me a moment of self confidence and worth.

            'This is the Fate. I come with the Zero system and something called the Infinite system- this is how I can talk with you.' Then a list of weapons appeared on the screen. Not much different from the Epyon.

            Before I did anything, the seatbelt had put itself in place and the Fate flew to space at an unbelievably fast rate.

            "If you can control yourself, how come you can't operate on your own?"

            'I require someone's battle skills and am not activated until there is a pilot.'

            "Why me?" There was no reply. I could only think of the battle ahead as the Gundam sped through the sky like a comet- too fast to be identified.

(Artemis's POV)

            "System failure." The lights turned off as the main computer gave into my virus. A simple virus really. It was so unfortunate how a large base could succumb to a tiny virus. The least they could do was try to put up some antivirus system. I sighed and quickly exited the room and began to run.

            I was right. Mobile suit production was definitely the purpose of this colony. I would put an end to that… even at the risk of other lives. Their deaths seemed minimal to the huge amount of loss that would be suffered in a war. I would allow no more wars. 

            I made my way stealthily through the dark hallways muttering about the lack of a backup system to at least turn on the lights. I focused into the contact in my right eye to have my vision fill with night vision. I usually avoided using this because it gave me an extremely large migraine later accompanied by irritability and rashness. There was no other choice. I wouldn't be able to find my way out without it. 

            My thoughts drifted. Should I communicate with Alfred and tell him to send a Gundam? What would be enough to destroy this base? Although the base was just recently constructed, it was heavily armored and had an impressive defense system. My mind wandered through the list of Gundams. Fate would do… relatively fast with a nice defense system and a variety of weapons available should I need it. I spun my left earring to establish a connection. "Alfred? Send Fate over. I need backup."

            "Fate is gone."

            "WHAT?"

            "The hatch opened half an hour ago."

            "Get a lock on her position and get her back. The last thing I need is a runaway Gundam with a crazy but extremely skilled pilot quite capable of irrational thoughts and plans of destruction. "

            "What about your…?"

            "Don't worry about it. That is number one priority. I'll manage until you can send backup."

            "Roger. Over and out." I sighed and turned the corner and narrowly avoided colliding with someone by swerving quickly to my right while the person jumped nimbly into the air and executed a few spins before landing in front of me. 

            "Trowa? What are you?"

            "Getting you. Heero was indisposed of at the moment." I snorted. We continued to run, attacking the occasional guard. Suddenly, I found us between two menacing groups of soldiers, guns aimed. I undid my arm clasp and tossed it to him. 

            "Use it." I charged one groups of guards, shooting in quick succession. The silver clasp around my wrist unloaded a few metallic stars and I whipped them at the rest of the unsuspecting guards, which imbedded themselves in their foreheads, killing instantly. 

            "Let's go!" I turned and began to run again. If we could only make it out of that door. I braced myself for the jump and then felt myself being pulled back, just as the doors slammed ominously closed. 

            "DAMNIT!"

            "Follow me."

            "What?"

            "Just trust me!"

(Trowa's POV)

            I reached my hand for hers and she took it with her gloved one. One baleful eye looked through the mask, but nonetheless, showed she trusted me. 

            "This way." I dragged her with me towards the hangar. 

            "Where are we going?"

            "The hangar. It's our best chance right now." I sensed her nod as we were again approached by a large amount of guards. 

            "Was this part of your plan?" she smiled slightly.

            "No."

            "Then we'll have to dispose of them won't we?" Before I could answer, I felt her let go of my hand and spin into action as we engaged into battle. I shot several guards before the bullets ran out. I picked up a gun that a dead guard had dropped and began to shower them with bullets like Heavyarms. 

            Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Angel execute a series of acrobatic moves, slicing through guards with a miniature beam saber. How did she get that? I watched her for a few more minutes admiring her flowing jumps- ruthless and deadly but efficient and caught myself before I lost complete focus.

            "How ya doing?" she called over the din. 

            "Not too well. You?"

            "Same here… TROWA BEHIND YOU!" I spun around but met a hand slapping the back of my neck. I watched Angel shoot to hit the man behind me as I slumped towards the ground and then run towards me. 

            "Trowa are you hurt?" I looked at her through the growing darkness. I looked into her angry eyes… filled with worry. She looked so beautiful. Kami. Was I falling for the Angel? That was my last thought as darkness overrode my senses.  


End file.
